Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Update + editor’s note: Good news, AA’s ticket packages come with 2 tickets, making this potentially a decent deal for some. I redid some of the math with updated assumptions around this
The FIFA World Cup is happening in North America next summer! I personally think getting affordable tickets will be extremely challenging if not downright impossible (the affordable part). We have already seen unfriendly pricing practices unveiled for the tournament, including a very limited amount of group stage tickets starting at $60+ otherwise expect to pay $120 (for some Mexico-based games) to $140+ for some group stage games in the US for not-so-great tickets. FIFA has also decided pricing will be variable due to the demand (not sure how they will implement this), meaning ticket costs are likely to rise!! We also know that variable pricing is great for consumers in award travel as well, like Delta! 😆
This article goes over a few key ways to get World Cup tickets but primarily focuses on the upcoming ability to redeem American Airlines (AA) miles to secure tickets in addition to using FIFA’s right-to-buy option.
So, how can you get World Cup tickets?
- Buying tickets for insane resale at the moment on FIFA’s marketplace platform (15% fee to buyer and seller…lovely)
- Waiting for that Visa presale email to hit your inbox still (sorry if you already missed the entry period)
- Buy a FIFA right-to-buy opportunity on their FIFA Collect platform when they upload one or through the marketplace (my affiliate link if you want to sign up. You’ll get a $5 credit)
- Buy a single-match hospitality package (expensive! starts at $1,350+ per person)
- Enter the upcoming Early Ticket Draw where you enter between October 27-31 where you could be selected to buy tickets in mid-November through Early December
- Random draw in early December
- Buy with a partner such as AA’s upcoming opportunity to redeem miles for tickets
- Last-minute unsold tickets from FIFA
If you have AA miles (or Citi points), you have the opportunity to redeem them for guaranteed World Cup 2026 tickets
Starting October 13 at 11am ET, American Airlines’ highest-tier loyalty members (Concierge Key and Executive Platinum) will be able to utilize their AA miles to secure tickets to any World Cup game, including the final. Then, anyone else with lower-level status (Platinum Pro, Platinum, and Gold) will be able to redeem AA miles on October 14 at 11am ET. Finally, anyone with an AA account can redeem on October 15 at 11am.
You can redeem miles for any match, including the opener or the final. However, it’s going to cost you, even for group stage matches. The cheapest redemption I could find, is 75k AA miles. Even more worrying, the site indicates the match tickets “start at 75k”. So it could be 75k AA miles to get a nosebleed Category 4 ticket. Hopefully, FIFA lets you bring binoculars for those or AA’s redemption provides Category 1 tickets.
Should you actually redeem AA miles (or use Citi points)?
Looking at AA’s pricing, I really don’t see value in redeeming miles for most games offered, unless you are somehow swimming in hundreds of thousands to millions of American Airlines miles or Citi points. I’m usually a sucker for using points for experiences but I just think the opportunity cost of using AA points makes this a really bad not a screaming deal based on the current information we have. Hopefully, we will see more opportunities to use points & miles for the World Cup with potential offerings from Marriott and Qatar and maybe some others as well.
With matches starting at 75k AA miles (worth minimum of $750 in my view), it might be better to learn how to use the FIFA Collect program and buy a right-to-buy opportunity that will let you buy tickets at retail price. We also don’t know (at the time of me publishing) if the 75k AA redemption gives you 1 or 2 tickets. The math could potentially look ok if you get 2 tickets and if the tickets are for Category 1 or 2 tickets. But it will stink if it’s only for 1 ticket and for Category 3 or 4 tickets.
An alternative to guarantee tickets is using FIFA’s right-to-buy (RTB) offering. Details can be found directly on FIFA’s site here, although it appears the exact details are still being ironed out such as when can you redeem your RTB to buy tickets. This might be a more cost-effective way to get tickets in my view.
Let’s take an example: You can get a RTB for Match 7 in Newark/NYC for $264 on the marketplace. This will let you buy 2 tickets for the match at retail (per ticket: $60 for Cat 4; $215 for Cat 3; $465 for Cat 2; $620 for Cat 1). AA wants 115k miles (minimum $1,150 value) per ticket (or per 2 tickets? Still unknown). It would potentially be more cost-effective to spend $264 for the RTB 2x tickets, and then buy 2x Cat 1’s at $620 each for a total cost of ~$1,504. On a CPP basis, assuming AA’s 115k mile redemption gets you 2 tickets would be 1.3 cents per point in a best-case scenario (Getting 2x Cat 1 tickets for 115k AA miles). If its 115k AA miles for 1x ticket, you’re not at 0.65cpp. AA usually lets you redeem miles for around 1cpp at worst if you booked a flight with miles.
An updated example: You can get a RTB for Match 7 in Newark/NYC for $215 on the marketplace. This will let you buy 2 tickets for the match at retail (per ticket: $60 for Cat 4; $215 for Cat 3; $465 for Cat 2; $620 for Cat 1). AA wants 115k miles (minimum $1,150 value) for 2 tickets. So in this instance, it would potentially be more cost-effective to spend $215 for the RTB 2x tickets, and then buy 2x Cat 1’s at $620 each for a total cost of ~$1,455. On a CPP basis, assuming AA’s 115k mile redemption gets you 2 tickets would be ~1.3 cents per point in a best-case scenario (Getting 2x Cat 1 tickets for 115k AA miles).
Worst-case scenario, it’s 115k AA miles for 1 ticket in Category 3 (would be evil if its Category 4, I won’t entertain that AA would do that). Again, assuming $264 for a RTB 2x tickets on the FIFA Collect marketplace and buying 2x Category 3 tickets at $215 each, you’ll have to spend $694 for 2x tickets if you paid in cash or $479 for 1x ticket. Your CPP for AA miles would be 0.4cpp for 1 ticket. Attrocious redemption.
Would you redeem 115k AA miles to potentially sit in the green Category 4 section??
Other examples where redeeming AA miles for World Cup tickets would be bad
Here are some additional examples based on select matches using American Airlines miles and their respective CPP values. One callout to note is there are multiple moving parts on calculating CPP including some if AA’s redemption are Category 1 or 2 tickets; the overall cost of a FIFA RTB since it’s on a marketplace and constantly changing; and if the overall cost of buying a ticket directly from FIFA will go up or down due to “dynamic pricing”.
As you can see, there could be some value using AA miles to redeem for match tickets, primarily around opening matches and knockout stages including the Final match.
What is FIFA Collect? And how can I find “good deals” on the site?
If you’ve ever played any of the EA Sports franchises like FIFA, Madden, etc, you are probably somewhat familiar with the Ultimate Team game mode, where you build a team with player cards. The cards in the game are earned through opening packs that you can pay for with real cash, using virtual currency earned while playing, or doing challenges.
FIFA Collect is like a real-life version of it, but you’re going to have to fork up real-life cash to get packs. There’s also a real-life marketplace as well, just like in the video games. You can buy a “collectable” on the FIFA Collect website with real money that gives you the right to buy (RTB) World Cup tickets for a specific match. The prices are constantly changing but it might be worth it to buy a RTB for a match instead of sweating about getting tickets in future draws. There’s also some element of gambling as well at the moment as who’s playing in each match won’t be determined until December 5, when FIFA will have the final draw to determine the group stages. So if you are looking to buy a random group stage RTB now, you could be paying $200-300 (plus the retail price of tickets) to see Argentina face off against Spain. But it could potentially be Gabon vs. Vietnam (just an example, I don’t think either team has clinched a spot yet). So that RTB on the marketplace might drop to $100 or less.
If you’re interested in buying a RTB on the marketplace and haven’t created a FIFA Collect account yet to do so, I would appreciate if you signed up using my affiliate link and you’ll also get a $5 coupon as well.
Definitely do your homework before buying anything on the marketplace including checking price trends on the marketplace (use FIFA Collect Analytics site!), looking at how much you’ll have to pay in addition to the RTB pack (current pricing here on NYT site), travel costs to get to and stay at a certain city, and risks around who could be playing that could make the price go up or down. Additionally, most RTB’s outside of the Group Stage only let you buy 1 ticket!!
I already own one RTB from a mystery pack that I opened earlier this year (I spent $350 for it and its reselling for $250 right now 🥴) and it’s for a match I likely can’t attend and will give away to a friend. I will probably spend more to secure a better date but wow, my pockets will definitely be hurting after next year’s games.
If you thought this was useful, and also like award flight deals in your inbox, make sure to subscribe to my free newsletter.
